A+E Networks Upfront Highlights

March 4, 2021 Kristin Brzoznowski Top Stories

A+E Networks has revealed more than 2,500 hours of new programming at its 2021 Upfront presentation, including 70 hours of docs and more than 200 movies, with highlights such as a Janet Jackson cross-network limited series.

Lifetime and A&E have greenlit a two-night, four-hour documentary event: Janet (working title), celebrating the 40th anniversary of Janet Jackson’s first album, to simulcast on both Lifetime and A&E.

A&E Network greenlit two new documentary events: Right to Offend: The Black Comedy Revolution (working title) and Secret Origins of Hip Hop. Right to Offend explores the evolution of Black comedy and comedians who have used pointed humor to expose, challenge and ridicule society’s injustices and to articulate the Black experience in America. Secret Origins of Hip Hop follows some of hip hop’s biggest stars, including Busta Rhymes, Eve, Fat Joe, Grandmaster Flash and Ice-T, as they share the stories and events that molded them into the artists they became.

The HISTORY Channel is again teaming up with NBA Legend, author and activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbarto, greenlighting the one-hour documentary Fight the Power: The Protests That Changed America. The doc will look at the impact key protests have had on the evolution of the U.S., from past to present, and explore the question: Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice when pressure is applied? The HISTORY Channel is extending its popular That Built franchise with a slate of historical miniseries. The programming tells the history of the brilliant and sometimes ruthless visionaries behind innovations such as the passenger jet, the television and power tools in The Machines That Built America; iconic products like Monopoly and G.I. Joe in The Toys That Built America; and epic builds like the Panama Canal, the Transcontinental Railroad and the Hoover Dam in The Engineering That Built the World. Joining the strand for a second installment from the creators of the popular docuseries The Men Who Built America is The Titans That Built America, executive produced by Appian Way Productions’ Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson and Stephen David Entertainment.

Lifetime signed a two-picture deal with multimedia entertainment mogul Reba McEntire to star in and produce two movies for the network. The first of the projects will be Christmas in Tune (working title), which will be featured as a tentpole movie for the network’s annual holiday slate. Christmas in Tune will also include an original holiday song by McEntire. The second film, which will not be a holiday movie, is in development for 2022.

“Our brands have clear identities with a strong foundation of hit series. Across our entire portfolio and in a variety of genres, we continue to have an incredible roster of A-list, diverse talent in front of and behind the camera,” said A+E Networks Group President Paul Buccieri. “Our ongoing efforts to launch and invest in best-in-class original programming for our linear properties, as well as further expanding our 360-experiences, demonstrates a deep commitment to being available wherever and however viewers want to be entertained, whether through high-performing podcasts, virtual experiences or digital multiplatform content.”